Water mist cooling system

ABSTRACT

An indoor and outdoor cooling system that is provided with a one or more nozzles that are adapted to spray a fine water mist into the air. The cooling system also includes a fan and a dehumidifier. The dehumidifier is adapted to introduce dehumidified air into the area being cooled. The mixing of the dry dehumidified air with the water mist causes the water mist to evaporate which causes the removal of the vaporization heat from the surrounding air to lower the air temperature.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to machines, and particularly to indoorand outdoor cooling machines used to cool a given area. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to cooling systems thatcool an area without the need for closed loop cfc-type systems. Theearth is equipped with preventive features that reduce the amount ofharmful cosmic rays that contact the earth. One of these features is theozone layer which acts as a natural barrier to protect the earth'ssurface. However, the ozone layer can be effected by artificial gas thatmankind has created. It has been known for some time that the coolingmedium CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) is destroying the ozone layer. Everyyear, in the South Pole, an ozone hole is created in the atmosphereallowing harmful cosmic rays to contact earth. A reduced ozone layerincrease the risks of skin cancer and causes other adverse impacts.There is a need for a complete replacement for CFC in cooling systems.

Due to the impact of the global warming effect, many weather changeshave been seen all over the world. Because of the adverse impact of hightemperatures, various problems have occurred throughout the worldincluding damage and injury to people, animals and natural surroundings.Typical examples of issues caused by current cooling systems are theheat island phenomena in cities, and flooding in coastal regions of theworld.

Because of these global issues, the Kyoto Protocol and Bali Protocolwere announced in 2007. To ease the extreme summer heat and the greenhouse effect caused by global warming, water droplet sprayers (calleddry mist sprayers) were recommended. In climates, such as Japan, whereit is hot and very humid, effective evaporation and vaporization ofwater droplets is not successful and such systems only cause atemperature drop of about 2° C. to 3° C., which is the same assprinkling water. Recently, dry mist sprayers have been installed in thecrowded areas in cities and towns to provide cooling. However, thesesystems provide little cooling relief because the temperature drops byonly about 3° C., and do little to provide cooling relief. When thesurrounding temperature is 25° C. and humidity is 75% or more, the drymist sprayer increase the humidity level in the air and increase theunpleasant feeling of high temperature and high humidity to people inthe area.

SUMMARY

According to the present disclosure, a cooling system is provided thatis designed to cool indoor and outdoor areas, such as sporting eventsand other open spaces. The system also works in buildings or completelyopen or closed spaces that is not possible by traditional airconditioners.

Widespread usage of air conditioning system of the present disclosurewould reduce the heat discharge effect caused by traditional airconditioners popularizing the air conditioner of the present disclosure,when viewed from a larger scope, would help solve the heat islandphenomena in cities.

Current air conditioning/refrigerating equipment uses a closed circuitheat cycle that includes CFC and ammonia, both of which are dangerous tohandle as cooling mediums. CFC, which destroys the ozone layer anddamages the earth environment, should not be used, if possible. Thepresent disclosure does not depend on closed circuit heat cycles, butuses the evaporation of a direct cooling medium. The cooling medium isdehumidified air having an extremely low dew point that is mixed withfine droplets of water to cool the air. Thus, an air conditioning effectin the surrounding area is created.

In order to provide proper cooling, the cooling system is equipped witha device that spouts fine water droplets into the air (2 mm˜0.1 μm orless, hereinafter called mist). The cooling system also includes adevice that blows very dry dehumidified air having a dew point of about20° C. to about −60° C., hereinafter called dehumidified air) toward theoversaturated water vapor in the air. The cooling system causes thedehumidified air and the mist to mix, which causes the water mist toevaporate. Evaporation of the water mist causes, the vaporization heatto be removed from the surrounding air. Removal of the vaporization tocause the temperature of the surrounding air to drop greatly. Thuscooling and air conditioning of the unlimited outdoor space is enabled,solving a problem which was unthinkable for traditional airconditioners.

According to the present disclosure, when water mist and dehumidifiedair are sprayed at the same time into the outdoor air, the impact of thedry dehumidified air with the mist causes the mist to evaporateimmediately to remove the vaporization heat from the surrounding air tolower the air temperature. The experiments conducted succeeded inlowering the temperature from about 1° C. to about 15° C. or more. Themist, when vaporized, takes the vaporization latent heat from the air,which is the heat of 539 cal per 1 atmospheric pressure, 1 gram from thesurrounding air. The drier the air that makes contact with the mist, thebigger the evaporation latent heat effect. In the present invention, inorder to enhance this effect, cooled dehumidified air is used. However,it is fine if the dehumidified air temperature is about the same as theoutdoor air temperature.

In the case where the cooling system is used indoors, in a closed room,the humidity in the room increases due the continuous production ofwater mist. When over saturation occurs, the mist system is temporarilystopped, and the dehumidified air is continuously sprayed from thedehumidifying air nozzle inside the room. When the dehumidified aircontinues to be sprayed into the room having an oversaturated watervapor condition, that is, into the highly humid space, the oversaturatedwater vapor and the adjusted dehumidified air continuously make contact,causing a reduction in room temperature.

As to the air, where the temperature was reduced using the presentcooling device, the saturated vapor in the air becomes oversaturated asthe temperature of saturated vapor drops. Under these conditions,moisture is discharged into the space, which makes contact with thedehumidified air sprayed from the nozzle and evaporates. Thus, the cycleallows the temperature to drop continuously. Such humidification anddehumidification cycles are repeated. If the humidity in the room dropsbelow a set value, the spray mist is sprayed again and the spray anddehumidified air are mixed, causing the room to be cooled. What one canunderstand by this explanation is that if the humidity in a natural airis 75% or more, which is a high humidity, the spraying of mist is notnecessary. That is, cooling of the room can be attained by using thenatural humidity of the room as the mist. By using the cooling system ofthe present disclosure, traditional air conditioning methods are notneeded.

The dehumidified air used for the present disclosure is very dry airhaving a low dew point. If water mist particles that were spouted outfrom the water nozzle remain in an oversaturated condition, dehumidifiedair is sent out into the water mist from the dehumidifying air nozzle asmany times as desired to achieve the desired cooling effect. Thus,second stage and third stage evaporation/vaporization heat can beremoved, accelerating cooling. Using a traditional air conditionermultiple stage cooling is not possible.

The cooling system in the present disclosure has a dehumidificationsystem that uses adsorbent materials (silica gel, zeolite, activealumina) or hollow thread membranes (plastic air pass-through type).However, the air can be dehumidified using a desiccant method, toproduce the dehumidified air.

According to the present disclosure, dehumidified air is blown into thewater mist that is sprayed from the air nozzle and both the makecontact. The evaporation of the water mist lowers the temperature of thesurrounding air as it takes the heat from the air. As a result, comparedwith a cooling method by the dispersion of dry mist only, thetemperature is dramatically reduced.

Also, the present disclosure utilizes a natural phenomenon, theevaporation/vaporization heat effect, which is obtained by contactingthe water mist and the dehumidified air. Since the present disclosurecools the air by mixing the water mist and dehumidified air, little orno ductwork is needed, reducing construction costs.

In evaluating the electric power consumed for the present disclosure, ascompared to the power consumption of similar air conditioners, theresults are favorable. And, comparing the vaporization latent heat ofthe cooling medium (CFC, ammonia etc) of a traditional refrigerator andthe present disclosure, more cooling occurs. Thus, the consumption ofpower used to power the cooling system of the present disclosure is lessthan a traditional air conditioner. The traditional air conditioner cannot be effectively used outdoors or in partially open spaces. Thecooling system of the present disclosure can be easily used in openspaces, and can obtain the cooling effect capability of the traditionalair conditioner.

The cooling system of the present disclosure does not circulate the airin a building, but utilizes the fresh natural air in the open space. Aircirculation ducts such as those found in traditional air conditioners inthe buildings are not required. Thus, for sites such as hospitals, theproliferation of bacteria in air conditioning ducts and generation ofbacteria can be reduced.

Moreover, when the cooling device of the present disclosure is used inopen spaces, waste heat is not generated like conventional airconditioning systems. Thus, as the cooling system gets popularized, itcan be anticipated that the mid summer heat waves would be alleviated.Furthermore, by using a hollow thread membrane dehumidifier, a battery,a manual air compressor, and a spray generator. Low priced portable airconditioning equipment and air conditioned clothes can be created thatdo not need much electric power.

In addition, a traditional air conditioner decreases the humidity inroom space while air is being circulated. The cold dehumidified air cancause people in the space to feel muscular pain and other healthconditions. Since the cooling system of the present disclosure is alwaysgenerating cool air with up to 100% humidity, the cooling system mayprovide health benefits. At the same time, if water mist is used forhumidifying can prevent dry skin or colds caused by dryness.

Additional features of the disclosure will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the disclosure as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figuresin which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a cooling system;

FIG. 2 is an block diagram of a second embodiment of the cooling system;

FIG. 3 is block diagram of a third embodiment of a cooling system;

FIG. 4 is an block diagram of a first type of dehumidifier used with thecooling system;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a second type of dehumidifier used with thecooling system; and

FIG. 6 is block diagram of a third type of dehumidifier used with thecooling system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A cooling system 100 of the present disclosure, includes a spoutingdevice 1 that sprays water mist into the air, a dehumidifier 3 thatdehumidifies the air, and a compressor 4 which pressurizes thecompressed air, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The air conditioner alsoincludes a water tank 5 that supplies the pressurized water to a spraydevice 1 a for spraying water mist, a pressurized water feed pump 7, andassociated conduits 51, 52.

The spouting device 1 includes a nozzle 1 a that spouts the water mistinto the air and one or more air spouting nozzles 1 b that spout thedehumidified air into the air. Spray nozzle 1 a is pressurized by waterfeeding pump 7 which receives water from a water tank 5 by conduit 51.Air spouting nozzle 1 b ejects compressed air from the compressor 4 viaconduit 52 which has been dehumidified via an air dehumidifier 3.

Spouting device 1 may include a fan “F” to mix the fine water dropletsand dehumidified air. Using a fan, the pressure of dehumidified air canbe as little as 1 psi. Different types of dehumidifiers can be used. Amembrane dryer dehumidifier is shown in FIG. 4, an adsorption typedehumidifier is shown in FIG. 5 and a desiccant type dehumidifier isshown in FIG. 6. The desiccant type dehumidifier is an effectivedehumidification structure for use in the cooling system.

In the membrane dryer dehumidifier MA in FIG. 4, compressed air CApasses through the inside of a hollow thread membrane PS (plastic finethread membranes). Moisture runs off from the fibrous air holes to theouter part of the surface of hollow thread membranes PS. Moisture thatadheres to the surface of the fibers is spouted by compressed air CA 1.Thus, moisture is removed and evacuated with air purge PA. The humiditylevel of the air that passes inside the hollow thread membranes PS isadjusted according to the method described above. The hollow threadmembranes PS is adapted to pass inside the purging air ducts. Watervapor removal air purge PA is adapted to pass through the clearancebetween the surface of hollow thread membranes positioned within theduct and is discharged along with the water droplets removed from theair.

The adsorption type dehumidifier in FIG. 5 includes two towers 15 thatare selectively cycled to achieve the desired dehumidification in thepressurized air stream. As can be seen in FIG. 5, four way valves 17, 18are placed in front and in back of the towers 15 a, 15 b which arefilled with moisture adsorbent materials such as silica gel, zeolite,and active alumina and the like. Check valves 21, 22 prevent the reverseflow of air, and filters 19, 20, 23 remove impurities from the air. Indehumidifier 3, while humid air passes through one tower 15 a to bedehumidified, the absorbent material in the other tower 15 b can berenewed. By switching the towers 15 alternatively, the dehumidificationcan be done continuously.

Impurities in the air compressed by the compressor 4, is removed whenthe compressed air passes through a dust filter 10 and a drain waterfilter 20. Adjusted dehumidified air passes through the air filter 23 bya four way valve 18. Compressed air that passes through the dust filter19 and drained water filter 20 goes through a discharge port 45 by thefour way valve 17.

Desiccant type dehumidifier in FIG. 6 includes a desiccant rotor 30, amotor 32 and a drive belt 31 that transmits the drive power of motor tothe desiccant rotor 30. The desiccant dehumidifier also includes fans33, 34 and an electric heater 35. The disk shaped desiccant rotor ismade of adsorbent materials such as silica gel, zeolite and activealumina and the like, and the front surface is partitioned into latticeor honeycomb shapes.

The desiccant rotor 30 is partitioned into a treatment zone that adsorbsthe moisture from the air and a renewal zone that removes the moisturethat was adsorbed during air treatment. The desiccant rotor 30 rotatesat a fixed speed while humid air passes through the treatment zone andthe moisture that is absorbed by the media that makes up the desiccantrotor 30 is removed. By using this arrangement continuousdehumidification and renew can be accomplished.

Another embodiment of the cooling system is shown in FIG. 3. The coolingsystem includes a conical body 8 that is provided with a fan 8 b. Theconduit 8 is structured to mix the sprayed water mist from nozzles 8 cand the dehumidified air from conduit 54, as shown in FIG. 3. Thecooling system includes conical conduit 8 that sprays water mist, an airdehumidifying dehumidifier 9 that that gradually sends air to conicalbody 8. The system also includes spray nozzle 8C, a water tank 5, and apump 7.

The cooling system of FIG. 3 is a fan-type spray device in which a fan 8b is positioned within a rear part of conical body 8 a. In the front endof the conical body 8 a, along its periphery, a water header 8 d isconnected to duct 53, which supplies water from a water tank 5. Thewater header 8 d includes nozzles 8 c that allow water mist to beejected in a forwardly direction. Behind fan 8 b, conduit 54 ispositioned and is used to send the dehumidified air, adjusted by the airdehumidifying dehumidifier 9, to the spouting device 8. This embodimentof the cooling system may exclude a compressor which would use lesspower than the first embodiment.

During testing of the first embodiment, six spray nozzles were usedhaving flow rate of 60 CC/Min per unit and the water temperature of 19°C. The dehumidified air was introduced at a volume of about 2 m³/min ata temperature of 26.5° C., a relative humidity of 3.3%, and absolutehumidity 0.7 g/kg. The outer air temperature during testing was 28.8° C.

Using the above parameters the surrounding air temperature, about 2meters in front of the spray spout nozzle and dehumidified air spoutnozzle, was 14.7° C. The outside air temperature during the test was 28°C. and the relative humidity was 82%. The wet bulb temperature, whichwas calculated from a psychometric diagram, was 25.5° C. Wet bulbtemperature is the lowest temperature by which vaporization can occurand corresponds to the surrounding air temperature.

During testing of the second embodiment, six spray spouting nozzles wereused rated at 60 CC/Min per unit with a water temperature of 19° C. Thedehumidified air was introduced at a volume of 2 m³/min, a temperatureof 28.6° C., a relative humidity of 2.9%, and an absolute humidity 0.7g/kg. The outside air temperature during testing was 31.5° C.

Using above parameters the air temperature, at a position about 2 metersin front of the spray spout nozzle and dehumidified air spout nozzle,was lowered from 31.5° C. to 16.2° C. During the test the outside airtemperature was 33.5° C. and the relative humidity was 68%. The wet bulbtemperature, obtained from a psychometric diagram, was 28.3° C.

During a third test only dehumidified air was spouted from the coolingsystem. During the test the outside air temperature was 12.5° C. and therelative humidity was 75%. No water misting was used for this test. Thedehumidified air temperature was the same as the outside airtemperature, and when only dehumidified air was discharged into the air,the surrounding temperature at 2 meters in front of the dehumidified airspout nozzle 6, was 5° C. and had a relative humidity of 43%. The reasonfor the cooling is the surrounding air is cooled by the adiabaticexpansion of the dehumidified air spray. The oversaturated water vaporgets mixed with dehumidified air and evaporates. This causesvaporization heat to be taken from the surrounding air causing atemperature drop. The outer air temperature was 12° C. and the relativehumidity was 75% during the test. The wet bulb temperature obtained froma psychometric diagram was 9.69° C.

While this invention has been described as having a preferred design,the present invention can be further modified within the spirit andscope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended tocover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using itsgeneral principles. Further, this application is intended to cover suchdepartures from the present disclosure as come within known or customarypractice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fallwithin the limits of the appended claims.

1. An indoor and outdoor cooling system for cooling a given area, thecooling system comprising: a pressurized water supply; at least onewater nozzle coupled to the pressurized water supply, the water nozzleadapted to spray water in fine droplets to form a mist; an aircompressor for compressing air; a dehumidifier system for dehumidifyingthe air compressed by the air compressor; an air nozzle that is adaptedto expel air that has been modified by the air compressor anddehumidifier system, the air nozzle positioned to lie near the waternozzle, and a fan adapted to assist in mixing the mist and the modifiedair to cause evaporation of the mist, which causes a decrease in thetemperature of the given area.
 2. The cooling system of claim 1, whereinthe dehumidifier system uses porous moisture absorbent materials todehumidify the pressurized air.
 3. The cooling system of claim 1,wherein the dehumidifier system uses a desiccant type dehumidifier. 4.The cooling system of claim 1, wherein the dehumidifier system uses amembrane dryer type dehumidifier.
 5. The cooling system of claim 1,wherein the dehumidifier system uses an adsorption type dehumidifier. 6.The cooling system of claim 5, wherein the absorption type dehumidifierincludes a first tower of absorbing material and a second tower ofabsorbing material and further including a valve that allows for theselective transfer of compressed air between the towers.
 7. The coolingsystem of claim 2, wherein the fan blade is positioned behind the waternozzle and the air nozzle.
 8. The cooling system of claim 7, furtherincluding a housing, wherein the fan blade is positioned within thehousing.
 9. The cooling system of claim 7, wherein the at least onewater nozzle is coupled to a water manifold.
 10. The cooling system ofclaim 2, wherein the porous moisture absorbent material is zeolite. 11.An indoor and outdoor cooling system for cooling a given area, thecooling system comprising: a pressurized water supply; at least onewater nozzle coupled to the pressurized water supply, the water nozzleadapted to spray water in fine droplets to form a mist; a compressed airsupply; a dehumidifier system for dehumidifying the compressed airsupply; an air nozzle that is adapted to expel compressed dehumidified,the air nozzle positioned to lie near the water nozzle, and wherein themist and the dehumidified air mix to cause the mist to evaporate anddecrease the temperature of the air in the given area.
 12. The coolingsystem of claim 11, wherein the dehumidifier system uses porous moistureabsorbent materials to dehumidify the pressurized air.
 13. The coolingsystem of claim 11, wherein the dehumidifier system uses a desiccanttype dehumidifier.
 14. The cooling system of claim 11, wherein thedehumidifier system uses a membrane dryer type dehumidifier.
 15. Thecooling system of claim 11, wherein the dehumidifier system uses anadsorption type dehumidifier.
 16. The cooling system of claim 15,wherein the absorption type dehumidifier includes a first tower ofabsorbing material and a second tower of absorbing material and furtherincluding a valve that allows for the selective transfer of compressedair between the towers.
 17. The cooling system of claim 12, wherein thecooling system includes a fan blade that is positioned behind the waternozzle and the air nozzle.
 18. The cooling system of claim 17, whereinthe cooling system further includes a housing, and wherein the fan bladeis positioned within the housing.
 19. The cooling system of claim 17,wherein the at least one water nozzle is coupled to a water manifold.20. The cooling system of claim 12, wherein the porous moistureabsorbent material is zeolite.